Free Plan: Arts and Crafts Library Table

When it comes to smart, sturdy construction, Eric Keil has a lot to share. Take this versatile oak table as an example; he streamlined the construction and paid close attention to the details. The design was adapted from various Stickley catalogs from the turn of the 20th century. The efficient construction is the perfect blend of traditional woodworking meeting innovative construction and modern technology.

Instead of the traditional approach—a double-tenoned stretcher below the drawer and a dovetailed top rail—Keil builds frames to go over and under the drawers, then simply attaches them to preassembled ends. Instead of cutting dozens of mortises and tenons for the framework, he biscuited them together and also used biscuits to attach the frames to each other and the end assemblies.

He pays particular attention to grain, picking out the best boards for the top and laying up the legs so that quartersawn figure appears on all four sides. In the photo sequence below you can catch a glimpse of his technique, four mitered pieces get wrapped around a core.

Article Comments

The plans for this table look like they were written by a retard. The accompanying article starts out: "I bought 100 board feet of quartersawn oak, and selected the nicest boards for the top..." Nowhere in the article or on the plans, does it indicate how many board feet that this project requires.

Further, the drawings, explanations, plans, and details on the drawers are woefully inadequate. I can't believe I blew $20+ on these plans. (Imagine if I would have blown $800-$1K on lumber!)

Over 100 years and still going strong, A & C period furniture is still hot and going strong! Thank you FFW for continuing the vision of simple is better in this hectic lifestyle we are stuck in. A & C is classical music for the eyes and soul..........just catching a glimpse of it's lines and finish can drop the highest of blood pressure! Please continue offering the many ideas and plans, and I will continue as a subscriber to a fine magazine for 10+ years!!!

I don't mind seeing other styles, too, but I love A & C. I enjoy coming up with variations on the style that are pleasing to me. I like the deceivingly simple appearance that belies the complexity of the construction.

The Arts and Crafts style is great in its own right and can make very nice pieces, but 4545 and gator doc are right, the major woodworking magazines lean on it like a crutch. Give us something a little more challenging or just different for that matter.

Yes, enough already! I'm 55 and would really like to see other furniture styles in FWW. They could continue to publish the now mandatory A&C piece, but maybe (pleeeeeese) include some other historic designs? I'd love to see how someone does the ornate Art Nouveau style carving. Looking back over decades of FWW it seems A&C is increasing its page/year quota. How about some empire chairs/couches? Biedermeier? If you watch movies, look at how they signify wealth and power in settings, always with Louis 15/16 furniture.

@4545 - No, I have not had enough of Arts and Crafts style. I just turned 50 last Sunday, and have loved Arts and Crafts in all it's variations throughout my life. In fact, many times I've been tempted to ask Taunton to produce a woodworking magazine based strictly on the Arts and Crafts styles such as that which came from Gustav and Leopold Stickley, and well as Greene and Greene.

So Finewoodworking.com offers a free plan of an Arts and Crafts desk, and you complain about it? Do you always complain when someone GIVES you something for FREE that many people like, but you don't?

I built a dining table using similar techniques, on the legs it is easy to get the 4 sides together and to stay together if you put in a few biscuits in the mitered edges. Then you can clamp them to keep them tight while the glue dries and they won't move around.

I'm actualy in the middle of making this desk. I am using New Brunswick Red Oak, not quarter sawn however. It is coming together nicely. I have planed my wood to 7/8 in thick rather than 3/4. I'll post a pic when done.

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